Dark Revelation, the newest reprint set for the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, gives classic, confusing cards a second chance to show players what they can do. When some of these cards were first released, they were missing key details that clarified how to play them. Other cards were reprinted to reflect changes to their effects that alter what they do.

This week, we’ll examine some of the cards in Dark Revelation that have been changed from their original forms. I’ll explain what the changes mean for gameplay and clarify any new problems that may result from these changes.

Amazoness Fighter

Some players might not have noticed, but when this card was originally printed in Magician’s Force, it was supposed to have an ATK value of 1500. However, the Warrior was incorrectly printed with 1300 ATK instead.

Amazoness Fighter was given errata to inform everyone of the card’s actual strength, but you won’t have to rely on the errata anymore. The Fighter printed in Dark Revelation has been printed with the correct 1500 ATK.

This reprinting shouldn’t cause you any trouble. You’re going to be glad that I warmed up with something simple, because from here on, there will be trouble.

Big Bang Shot

For many players, the alteration to this card’s text may not be immediately apparent. Trust me when I say that the change has a major impact on the spell’s potential use.

The text on the reprinted equip spell says, “When the equipped monster attacks with an ATK that is higher than the DEF of a Defense Position monster, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent’s Life Points.” What does this mean? It means that once the conditions from the spell’s text are met, your opponent will receive battle damage to his or her life points—no matter who controls the equipped monster.

What happens if I equip Big Bang Shot to my opponent’s Gemini Elf? The Elf’s ATK value will be raised by 400 points, up to 2300. That’s the easy part. But let’s say that the Elf attacks my defense position Giant Soldier of Stone. Who will receive the battle damage? My opponent! The equipped monster attacked a defense position monster with a lesser DEF than the attacker’s ATK, so my opponent will take the difference as battle damage. It doesn’t matter which player controls the equipped monster.

Equipping Big Bang Shot to an opponent’s powerful monster can be a nice defensive move. You could even use Scapegoat’s sheep tokens without fearing that your opponent’s equipped monster will attack, because the damage he or she would receive would be considerable.

Charm of Shabti

Charm of Shabti’s text from the Pharaonic Guardian printing stated that the card’s effect could shield Gravekeeper monsters from battle damage for one turn. While the Charm’s effect is unchanged in the reprinting, the text is much easier to understand.

Discard this card from your hand. Until the End Phase, make the Battle Damage to monsters that include “Gravekeeper’s” in their card name 0.

What does this mean? It means that your monsters with “Gravekeeper’s” in their card names won’t be destroyed in battle for an entire turn if you discard Charm of Shabti from your hand. Your opponent’s Gravekeeper monsters will be protected as well, so be careful.

Protecting your Gravekeeper monsters from battle damage is great, but you need to remember that your life points will not be protected. If your opponent attacks one of your Gravekeeper monsters with a stronger attacker, you will still lose life points as normal.

Mystical Knight of Jackal

The reprinted Mystical Knight of Jackal takes the current rulings and applies them to the text of the card.

When this card destroys 1 monster on your opponent’s side of the field and sends it to your opponent’s Graveyard as a result of battle, you can then return the card to the top of your opponent’s Deck.

If you read the text from the card’s original printing in Pharaonic Guardian, you’ll notice that there are no restrictions on the destroyed monster. The rulings clarified the issue, but when given the chance to reprint a card, it is best to take the opportunity to clarify the text.

The reprinted text makes it clear that to trigger the card’s effect, the monster destroyed by the Knight must be an opponent’s monster, and it must be sent to the opponent’s graveyard. This clears up the issue of what happens when your Knight destroys a monster that your opponent took from you with a card like Snatch Steal. In such a situation, Mystical Knight of Jackal’s effect doesn’t activate.

Old Vindictive Magician

Take a close look at this one. You might not have noticed the change.

FLIP: Destroy 1 monster on your opponent's side of the field.

The original text as printed in Magician’s Force said that you had to destroy one monster on the field. The text didn’t specify any other limitations regarding the target monster. As you can see, the reprinted text prevents Old Vindictive Magician from destroying your own monsters.

This can be a mixed blessing. The plus side is that you can flip summon Old Vindictive Magician without the risk of destroying any of your own monsters. The original text did not offer this protection. However, if your opponent takes control of the Magician, he or she will enjoy the same benefit.

Vilepawn Archfiend

Last on our list is Vilepawn Archfiend, one of the “chess-piece” Archfiends from Dark Crisis.

Most of the monster’s effect has remained the same. The only difference is in the very last line of the Archfiend’s text.

As long as this card remains face-up on the field, your opponent cannot attack any Archfiend Monster Card on your side of the field except Vilepawn Archfiend.

If you read Vilepawn Archfiend’s original text, you will notice that it looks similar to Marauding Captain’s text. This caused a bit of confusion and had players believing that it was possible to set up a “Vilepawn lock” similar to the defensive lock created by two face-up copies of Marauding Captain.

The reprinted text removes the source of confusion. It is now clear that multiple, face-up copies of Vilepawn Archfiend on your side of the field are fair game to attacks from an opponent’s monsters. You will not be able to establish a “Vilepawn lock.”

Until next week, send all comments, suggestions, and Menchi recipes to Curtis@metagame.com.